Bacchus brigade join high flyers

The Americans flew in to London on Sunday, but not all of them. Three of their best players were stranded by Hurricane Frances.

Some south-based players and the coach Faoud Bacchus managed to avoid the chaos of Miami and drove up to Atlanta in time for a flight to Heathrow, but Leon Romero and Donovan Blake were too late, and all-rounder Tony Reid was stuck in the world's biggest traffic jam as 2.5 million people attempted to evacuate the Sunshine State at the same time.

Figuratively, the impact of the United States on the ICC Champions Trophy will be measured in puffs rather than gale-force blasts when their adventure begins at the Oval tomorrow with a match against New Zealand.

Even with former West Indies opener Clayton Lambert and a cluster of former island players in the side, the United States lack pedigree and any exposure to this elite level.

Bacchus played 19 Tests, mostly as a fringe member of the great West Indies side of the Seventies, before joining the unauthorised tour to South Africa in 1983. One of his rebel team-mates was Lawrence Rowe, now a United States selector.

Bacchus became a triple international by representing Canada, his Guyanese parents' new country, and then the United States when he moved to Florida to start a shrimp-fishing business in Orlando. After playing his final international at the age of 50 last year, he focused on his role as coach.

Despite his flight into London that morning, Bacchus was clear-eyed and looked young for his years.

One might have attributed that to the sea air if he had not mentioned he had sold his business and become a second-hand car salesman.

Headed by captain Richard Staple, a Jamaican New Yorker, the squad assembled at the Royal Garden Hotel for media interviews. Apart from Bacchus and the veteran lefthander Lambert, no one in the squad had experienced this level of interest or such luxury on cricket duty. Here, on a rare occasion, a bunch of Americans felt like poor cousins.

To Bacchus all this was further evidence of how far the Americans had progressed, a reward for their showing in last year's Sharjah tournament for second-tier nations, where they earned their trip here.

The Americans have been losing to last year's World Cup minnows Canada, but they beat Scotland in Sharjah; Scotland beat Derbyshire last weekend, offering a rough guide to the United States standard.

Bacchus said: "Sharjah was a major step because it brought us international recognition." "The players are nearly all migrants to the States, but they love their country and they're here because they love the game. They are only receiving a small stipend in London to cover lost wages for the two weeks."

Establishing the game in the United States is a painstaking business. "The geography is terrible," Bacchus said. "It's difficult to bring the players together." Money, however, is starting to find some answers. Mark Mascarenhas, the media tycoon killed in a road accident last year, founded an annual eight-zone championship three years ago. The International Cricket Council will be paying the salary of the first professional chief executive of the United States Cricket Association, an Englishman, Gary Hopkins.

The maverick 20-overs championship of two regions and eight franchises, known as Procricket, completed its inaugural season over the weekend when San Francisco Freedom defeated New Jersey Fire in the final at Atlantic City. The USCA have so far refused to authorise this well-meaning offshoot, the best attempt yet to popularise the game professionally in baseball communities.

Bacchus has retained his passion for the game, despite frustrations in the States. "It has not always been easy," he conceded, "but I think cricket is in my blood." His satisfaction is a return to London with honour.